John 13:12-20

¹²When He had finished washing their feet, He put on His clothes and returned to His place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" He asked them. ¹³"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. ¹⁵I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. ¹⁸I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture: 'He who shares My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.' [Psalm 41:9] ¹⁹I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He. ²⁰I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts Me; and whoever accepts Me accepts the One who sent Me."

After finishing the washing, Jesus asks if they understand what He has done for them. He is about to argue from the greater to the lesser thereby making a penetrating application. If He, their Teacher and Lord (v13-16), had humbled Himself so deeply for the good of the disciples, then they also ought to humble themselves and serve their fellow-believers. After all, the slave is not greater than his master; and so we, the slaves of Jesus Christ, should not consider any task too lowly for us, when He considered nothing too lowly for Him. The apostles certainly learned this point well, as the letters that they wrote to the churches after Jesus had ascended are filled with admonitions to humility and service. Perhaps the best illustration of an exhortation to follow in the example of Christ’s humility is found in Philippians 2:5-11.

V14 is often taken so literally that people actually wash other people’s feet attempting to copy the Lord Jesus. But that’s not the requirement here. V15 states the principle that we need to follow. Foot washing was culturally appropriate, as the illustration from v10 depicts. These people walked around on dusty roads with bare feet and sandals. We don’t do that, and so foot washing isn’t the correlation here. Serving one another in love is the idea. V17, which is elsewhere translated, “Happy are you if do these things,” conveys the counter-cultural message that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. He who exalts himself will be lost; the servant is the greatest.

John has already told us what Judas was about to do; but now, Jesus tells the rest of the disciples the same thing, so that when it actually happened, they would not stumble at the shocking reality of it (see also John 6:70). Jesus wants them to remember His words – which were an unmistakable claim to Deity (knowledge (I know) and authority (those I have chosen)) – after the fact and believe in Him (v19). Far from being a cause for doubt, it was in fact necessary that Judas should do what he was about to do – for the Scriptures prophesied that this would happen (v18). In Psalm 41, David, speaking as a prophet, lamented his betrayal by his close friend, who ate of his bread. This lament was ultimately over the betrayal of Jesus, the Son of David, and had to be fulfilled in His life.

The reason that John found it necessary to emphasize that Judas’ act of treachery was prophesied in the Scriptures was no doubt due to his understanding of the doctrine of the election and preservation of all believers. He has emphasized repeatedly, “All that the Father gives Jesus will come to Him; and the one who comes to Him, He will never drive away.” Jesus would lose none of those whom the Father had given Him (John 6:37-45). If God had chosen Judas, and Jesus lost him, then how could we be certain that He will never lose us? From the beginning, Jesus made it clear that the Scriptures predicted Judas’ apostasy (John 6:70), and that God had known and planned from the beginning what his end would be. In fact, when He prayed for all who should believe in Him, that God would bring them to His eternal glory, He intentionally excluded Judas (John 17:12). Above all, Jesus wanted His true followers to be sure of His unshakable intention to keep them forever, and so He taught them of the prophetic necessity for Judas’ betrayal before it happened, so that they would not be shaken in their own faith. Calvin concludes on this passage: “Let us learn that every part of our salvation depends on election.”

And then, in v20, Jesus reminds His disciples of a truth that He had taught them many times before: that anyone who received Him, was receiving the One who sent Him. In this way, He confirmed to them once again the security of their position. They belonged to the Father, as well as to Jesus, and they would never be lost. Only here, He also gives an additional element, namely, that anyone who should receive the one whom Jesus sent, would be receiving Jesus Himself. This was certainly to begin preparing them for the great commission that He would soon entrust to them, that they should evangelize the nations. Luke 10:16 says, “He who listens to you listens to Me; he who rejects you rejects Me; but he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”